This beautiful display
garden is an outdoor laboratory for the study and appreciation
of plants. It is one of the principal centers of plant
interest within the arboretum-like campus of Michigan State
University. More than 5,000 different kinds of plants can be
found on the five acre site.

This garden,
established in 1873 by Professor William James Beal, is the
oldest continuously operated university botanical garden of
its kind in the United States. With consideration for
Professor Beal's own words, "Students should themselves become
discerning observers and investigators rather than mere
reservoirs of previously accumulated knowledge"

This garden on the banks of the Red
Cedar River is a jewel for the student of horticulture or
botany. Although the setting is beautiful, the garden is
really a collection of plants from all over the world
organized by family or use. All plants used for production
of dyes are gathered together as well as the members of the
legume family. There is even a group of poisonous plants.
Don't touch the poison ivy! All the plants are neatly
labeled and they include tropical and subtropical plants
that they take into the greenhouse for the winter. A nice
place to study plants or just sit and read a book while
ducks quack away nearby.